2.4.4. Post-mortem inspection

Pigs were individually marked with slap marks the day prior to slaughter and traced to the abattoir to obtain the post-mortem measurements from individual carcasses. Tails were scored on the slaughter line after scalding by a single trained observer, using the scoring system of Harley et al. (29) (0 = no lesion, 1 = healed/mild lesions, 2 = evidence of chewing and puncture wounds, 3 = signs of swelling and infection, 4 = partial/total loss of tail). The individual carcass quality report, including cold weight, the percentage of lean meat, muscle %, and fat % data, was obtained from the slaughterhouse.